Charde Houston brought her unique energy to the Lynx 

The MSR is the only local media member that has covered the Minnesota Lynx from the start of its 25-year existence as the team became the Twin Cities’ most successful pro franchise. Before this season, the team chose its top-25 players in Lynx history and held their 25th-anniversary celebration the weekend of June 9-11, where the MSR spoke to several of the honored players.This week: Charde Houston (2008-11).

Sports Odds and Ends

Charde Houston was a big-time college star at UConn, averaging nearly 10 points a game in 139 games. She graduated with a sociology degree.

The 6’1” Houston, a California native, was drafted by Minnesota in 2008, in the third round. “I was one of the catalysts that came in to bring the energy, change the game,” she reflected on her role with the Lynx. 

Her rookie season was good, but her sophomore season was even better as we saw Houston starting 33 of 34 games. She increased her scoring (8.8 to 13.1), rebounding (3.7 to 5.5) and assists (0.8 to 1.7) so impressively that she represented the team in the 2009 All Star Game.  There she scored 16 points in 16 minutes.

Two seasons later in 2011, Houston would be a member of Minnesota’s first WNBA championship team, the same season she won the 2011 Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award. The annual award goes to a WNBA player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community and reflects Staley’s leadership, spirit, charitable efforts, and love for the game.

But this reporter also observed that season that the player barely played (eight minutes a game), and saw no action during the postseason. Two years earlier, Houston was averaging double figures; two years later, she wasn’t injured but couldn’t get off the bench except for timeouts. 

We never got any answers to her apparent lack of court time. She never publicly complained and earned her only W title ring nonetheless.  

Houston was traded to Phoenix during the offseason and played there for a couple of seasons, then a season in New York before retiring as a player after the 2014 season. In 128 games for Minnesota, Houston averaged 9.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists.

Looking back as one of the team’s all-time 25 top players in franchise history, Houston expressed no regrets over her time in Minnesota. Always a fashionista, Houston didn’t disappoint the crowd. They roundly applauded as her name was called during the celebratory event earlier this month: “Just bringing the energy, no matter [if the team is] winning or losing,” she said of her contribution.

In recent years, Houston has dabbled in modeling and fashion, and she once ran a nonprofit organization working with youth.  Now a small business owner and CEO of Project Youth Opportunities Unlimited, she said, “I have a housekeeping business, and then I’m going to get into grant writing.” 

Next week’s featured player: Monica Wright